didn't wait too long, Xue Qing, the governor of Jiangnan, also rushed over, and Guo Zheng, the imperial historian who had been grinding in the backyard, finally walked to the front hall. At this time, the Quartet who presided over and supervised the opening of the bid for the inner library finally gathered in one place. Guo Zheng is no longer the imperial history of the Metropolitan Procuratorate in Beijing, but he still has a certain amount of power to inspect all walks of life, and he and Fan Xian's old grievances have not been removed, so it is inevitable that they will be embarrassed when they meet, and when the four adults salute each other, they always feel that Fan Xian's calm and indifferent eyes hide a little danger.

Among the four dignitaries today, Huang Gonggong from Beijing naturally represents the palace, Xue Qing, the governor of Jiangnan, represents the court official system, Guo Zheng, the imperial historian, represents the speech official system, and Fan Xian ...... There are many forces on the represented, such as the Inner Treasury Transfer Division, such as the Supervision Yuan, and even the Taichang Temple, an institution that manages the imperial family.

Of course, everyone is representing the Imperial Court and His Majesty.

Fan Xian sat on the second chair, smiled and talked to Xue Qing, but he saw today's situation clearly, there are too many people staring at this matter, no matter who it is, no matter which force it is, it is difficult to complete the transaction under the table alone, and the bid opening procedure of the inner treasury formed by history is extremely effective in ensuring fairness.

At least on the surface, it is fair, as long as the businessman has money, he can fight for the right to sell the sixteenth item of the inner treasury.

He thought so, and the other three people thought the same, Huang Gonggong and Guo Zheng glanced at each other, although they were faintly uneasy, but in their opinion, Fan Xian was always impossible to play any tricks in front of everyone, what they wanted to guarantee was that the Ming family could still get the same share as in previous years.

The father-in-law and the imperial history were originally two classes that were incompatible in history. But today, they are very tacitly standing in the same camp, but these two people don't know a lot of hidden secrets, and they don't pay enough attention to the Xia Qifei Xia big boss who finally entered the inner library gate.

Xue Qing is different, the governor of Jiangnan has the mentality of watching a play, and looks at the giant businessmen and the people around him with a peaceful face.

Several people sang on one stage.

......

......

The thick door of the inner library mansion slowly closed again. The soldiers outside the gate and the officials of the Supervision Yuan set up a tight defense. In previous years, the bidding for the treasury generally ended in one day, but the rules of the imperial court actually allowed each merchant to use two days to shout the price.

There was a loud bang.

Fan Xian smiled and covered his ears, looking at the spring thunder that rose into the sky outside the mansion.

The spring thunder rushed straight to the sky, exploded under the shallow clouds, and the sound was clear and crisp, and it spread far away to the ground, which shocked countless people's hearts.

The girls in the Qinglou who worked hard last night in Suzhou City were awakened by this thunder and scolded a few swearing. He slipped into the quilt and fell asleep. was begging his parents for a lot of money on the street to buy candy and eat the land, thinking that God said that he was not well-behaved, and thundered and punished himself, and he was scared and cried. The black dog in the backyard, who was peeing on the roots of the old tree with his legs crossed, trembled by the thunder, fell to the ground with his forelimbs, buried his head in a furry package, and learned to be an ostrich.

Human reactions are already different, but this spring thunder falling on some people's ears has a different meaning. Whether it is the shopkeepers who gather on standby on the dock in the north of Suzhou City. It was still the residents of Sioux City who were discussing today's bid opening in the teahouse, and everyone looked in the direction of Nancheng, looking at the invisible mansion, knowing that the bidding for the inner library had begun.

The opening of the Inner Library in the New Year of the sixth year of Qingli. In fact, it didn't go well at the beginning.

First of all, the Inner Treasury Transit Department summarized the surplus and loss of each business last year, which naturally had many words of encouragement, and Ma Kai, the deputy envoy of the Transit Department who was in charge of the speech, finally reported the investigation and punishment of the Cui family by the imperial court, which is a warning to those businessmen under the ranks, don't think that the imperial court is not looking at you.

This is the rule of the past, and no one cares, but when Ma Kai said the specific matters of today's bidding, the house exploded. The merchants came forward to object, and even the four dignitaries sitting in the main hall began to argue.

This is because the Transshipment Division has suddenly decided to subdivide the original 16 items into 34 sub-items, and will no longer conduct bundled tenders this year.

This may not seem like a big change, but for the merchants below. But it's something that is simply unacceptable!

The reason is simple, every three months before the tender. These Jiangnan giants have already privately connected and drawn up the boundaries and divisions between each other, and the well water does not interfere with the river water, so as not to hurt the harmony between each other, and even hurt the wealth because of the price increase. For example, what the Lingnan Xiong family will compete for this year is the northbound standard of wine, while the Sun family in Quanzhou wants to take the overseas marketing rights of porcelain goods.

Today, if the 16 major items are divided into 34 sub-items according to the meaning of the transshipment division, although on the surface, everyone can still hold the bottom line, but the eight major items that should have been expected to belong to the Ming family are divided into two bundled bids, and after all are refined, who can know if there will be any businessmen who suddenly have red eyes and want to grab some shares of the Ming family's land? After all, after no longer being tied, those most profitable items seem to need too much silver.

And once someone is tempted by the Ming family's share, what should the Ming family do? They will definitely go back and grab other people's shares, which is determined by the businessmen's profit-seeking nature, and they are afraid that today's opening of the Inner Treasury for bidding will be chaotic.

These Jiangnan businessmen ...... What I am most afraid of now is chaos, the Ming family has already said that they will not interfere with the share that originally belonged to the Cui family, these businessmen can already eat several more bowls of fat today, of course, they don't want anyone to disrupt their plans.

In their opinion, the reason why Lord Qincha has such a change is actually very simple, one is to let the big guy kill the red eyes in the chaos and raise the price, and the other is to subdivide the items and dilute the fixed money required for each item, so that ...... Xia Qifei, who was the last to enter the hospital, can also get a piece of the pie!

These treacherous merchants had already realized that Room B, which had been silent, was the spokesperson of Lord Chincha's wishes.

It's just that you want to make money. We can all understand it, but you can't use this kind of seemingly fair, but in fact vicious!

......

......

"Master Fan, this is not appropriate. After Huang Gonggong was cut off by Fan Xian, he still behaved calmly enough, squeezed out a smile on his fat face, and said, "The rules of previous years. Sixteen items are sixteen items, why do you suddenly have to draw them in detail? This matter must be decided by the capital. 」

Fan Xian frowned, said a few words, and then turned back to Xue Qing and whispered, "Lord Governor,

Divided into detailed items, no longer tied, in fact, all I want is to make more people eligible to enter...... This is always good for the imperial court. 」

Xue Qing pondered for a while, his face was embarrassed, and said, "That being said. It's just that this matter is not trivial, I think Lord Fan is still the Ming court, and after submitting it to the palace for discussion, it will not be too late to slowly implement it next year. 」

Seeing that Xue Qing also objected, Fan Xian felt a little unhappy in his heart, looking at the chaotic businessmen in the hall, a trace of pity flashed in his mind, in fact, the reason why he had to prepare for the division today was not the reason why these businessmen did it at all.

Indeed, he wanted to test it. Is it possible to dig out the two most profitable items from the eight major items of the Ming family that are tied in one place and give them to Xia Qifei. But the really important reason is actually for the sake of these businessmen.

These merchants were always thinking in their hearts at this time. The six items left by the Cui family are in their own pockets, so they will not fight with the Ming family...... But after a while, Xia Qifei will definitely swallow all the six items of the Cui family into his stomach, and these businessmen can only eat the pitiful two. There was information in advance, the Lingnan Xiong family and the Quanzhou Sun family have prepared a large amount of silver this time, sharpening their knives and preparing to accept the Cui family's line.

Due to the collapse of the Cui family, there are three times as many businessmen who come to the inner library to open bids today than in previous years. Fan Xian originally thought that these businessmen would also have something to eat, so he had the proposal to subdivide, but he didn't expect that no one would appreciate it-although he understood that it was because these businessmen didn't know the development of the situation for a while, so they would oppose it so strongly, but Fan Xian still couldn't suppress the feeling of grievance in Lu Dongbin's heart.

I argued with Gonggong Huang and Guo Zheng beside me for two sentences and explained for a while. Finding that the businessmen still insisted on handling it according to the practice of previous years, and the other three officials were also stubbornly clinging to the word rules and did not dare to let go, Fan Xian finally decided to give up.

Deputy envoy Ma Kai glanced back at Fan Xian in embarrassment, and Fan Xian waved his hand and signaled to stop the discussion.

The merchants were overjoyed, and bowed down one after another, saying that the Lord was wise. Fan Xian looked at these businessmen coldly, and couldn't help but shake his head, thinking that you just don't cry for a while.

Xue Qing sat next to him, smiling and speechless, but in fact, his eyes were fixed on the room closest to the main hall, and the room farthest. He knew that Xia Qifei was from Fan Xiandi, but he didn't know where Fan Xian prepared the silver from, and how the Ming family was going to deal with it.

――――――――――――――――――――

Not long after the bidding was conducted, some businessmen began to regret it, and the head of the Lingnan Xiong family became the first poor guy who almost cried.

The officials of the Inner Treasury Transit Division stood on the high steps and sang a salute, and then the houses began to bid, and naturally the bids could not be shouted like the girl in the green building--fifty taels!One hundred taels!-- There are always some rules for the imperial court to do things, so there is an intentional target, such as the merchants on the North Cotton Yarn Road, after the officials sing the salute, by accounting last year's profits and this year's trend, the old shopkeeper with them will make a detailed calculation, and then write down an accurate number on the paper, seal it in a brown paper bag, and hand it over to the flower hall on the left hand side of the main hall by the officials of the transfer department under the stairs.

There are three opportunities for merchants to bid the price, and the bid is opened, so if someone shouts that the land price exceeds their own for the first time, these merchants will have the opportunity to increase the price again, and finally the third time shall prevail, which is a very simple principle of winning the bid - the one with the highest price wins. Then the merchant who won the bid had to take out as much as forty percent of the fixed silver in the first place, either with joy or with a painful heart, and hand it over to the flower hall, which was occupied by the accountants of the Transit Division, and the old accounting officer transferred from the Kyoto household department, who was responsible for comparing the number of merchants to be brought up, and checking the silver bills handed over by the final winning bidder. It's been many years since a merchant stupidly carried a dozen boxes of silver to open bids......

From this point of view, the bidding of the inner library is actually not much different from the bidding of the red man in the green building, but the girl of the inner library is a little expensive. Whether it is a businessman or a busy official, this scene is no stranger.

At this time, in the courtyard of the house, the officials were busy walking around, holding the envelopes handed in by each family, and the officials of the Supervision Yuan watched everything vigilantly. Prevent fraud that is already difficult to happen.

At this time, the northbound bidding for alcohol was opened, and it was already the third time that the price was shouted.

The person who came from the Lingnan Xiong family today is Xiong Bailing, who is now in charge, he wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, looked at the first two offers from the other party, the muscles of his face twitched, and he felt a little like crying without tears. The Lingnan Xiong family has always been doing business in the south of Qingguo, but due to the problem of geography and opportunities, there has been no opportunity to extend its tentacles to the north, so the business situation is extremely difficult to open, and this year due to the collapse of the Cui family. gave these businessmen the opportunity to seize the marketing rights in the north, so Xiong Bailing was determined to win this target, and he was the one who was the most energetic in opposing Fan Xian's subdivision project before.

...... However, at this time, he began to regret it, obviously he had prepared enough silver in the clan, but the first two bids were actually suppressed by others!

Xiong Bailing's eyes were red, and he was anxious, if he couldn't win this standard, it was not a question of how much money he would earn less this year, but the family bypassed the mountain of the Ming family. The pace of the march to the north was forced to slow down, so he was against the unruly person who dared to compete with himself. I really hated it to the bones, but in addition to the hatred, there were also countless fears, because he knew that man had Lord Qincha as a backer, but the problem was ...... Where did the other party get so much money?

"B Four!" He hated to look at the quiet room at the back, Xia Qifei and his party in room B 4 had been extremely quiet, but they were very ruthless when they grabbed the bid. The most important thing is that the other party doesn't know what masters are helping out, but he calculated the profit of the wine industry Beiquan for a year so clearly, and he also estimated his family's bottom line very clearly, and the first two bids. Every time I ask for a price, I just overwhelm myself.

Xiong Bailing couldn't help but feel a sense of frustration in his heart, could it be that he who has been in business for generations is not as good as a robber leader?

The old shopkeeper beside him looked defeated. reminded, "Master, you can't add more, add more...... But there's not much land to be gained. 」

Xiong Bailing thought for a while, his eyes were fierce, the Xiong family relied on this bid to make money was a trivial matter, and opening up the trade route was a major matter, so he decided to fight with the robbers in the fourth room.

"Quote the price directly. Xiong Bailing made a gesture, made up his mind to break the cauldron, gritted his teeth and said, "When the robbers don't feel sorry for the silver they robbed...... But there's no need to lose money and steal business with me. 」

At this time, the courtyard was already quiet, and for the third time, no one else cared anymore, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the Lingnan Xiong family and Room B. 4.

Although Gonggong Huang and Guo Zheng had doubts and glanced at Fan Xian, they still didn't pay enough attention to it, because after all, this was just a small item, maybe Fan Xian wanted to make some oil and water, as long as it didn't hurt the Ming family and hurt the interests of his own people.

The two officials took out two brown paper bags from each of the two rooms and entered the flower hall in silence.

Everyone was nervously waiting for the result, although this bid was not the biggest and most profitable bid among the sixteen, but the people in the courtyard had begun to feel the strangeness of the fourth room at this time, so everyone wanted to know whether this fourth room was here to grab the bid, or if Lord Qincha used it to raise the price.

......

......

"B 4 room, Xia family, 370,000 taels, get ......"

The official in charge of the transfer department of the singing ceremony stood on the stone steps and sang the result expressionlessly, singing extremely beautifully, and even the last word was fluttering, singing a little bit of the taste of the ground on the stage.

The courtyard fell into a deathly silence, and after a few moments, people seemed to wake up from the shock and let out a shocking exclamation.

370,000 taels! Just to sell alcohol to the north...... If calculated according to previous years, this must be a loss-making price, Lingnan Xiong's family reported 300,000 taels, this is already smashing the pot and selling iron land to compete for the bid, but I didn't expect that I still lost to B Sifang!

However, in this way, the merchants are also aware of a fact. Xia Qifei in the fourth room is definitely not a childcare used by Lord Qincha to raise the price, but he really wants to compete with his own people for business.

For a while, everyone didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

At this moment, there was a muffled sound in the room of Lingnan Xiong's house, and it seemed that something heavy fell from the chair to the ground.

The crowd stared at the room with trepidation.

Xiong Bailing, the owner of the Xiong family, got up from the ground. I poured a cup of cold tea into my stomach very hard, panting and said, "A rotten boy......***, he actually marked 370,000 taels, this robber is a robber, and he is still so arrogant when he starts business, you are ruthless." 」

Fan Xian sat on the Taishi chair in the hall, bowed his head slightly, and was a little unhappy with this price, this price was indeed too high, and he had asked for the price twice before. Xia Qifei's voice over there was extremely beautiful, just overpowering the Xiong family, and this last price was an extra 70,000 taels of silver.

No matter how rich he is, he can't help spending it like this-he sighed in his heart, but he also knew that it was definitely not Xia Qifei who was the landlord in the matter of asking for the price, and he had put a few treacherous and slippery household officials in room B4, who were good hands that he secretly asked for from his father in Kyoto, but it seemed that those household officials still overestimated the determination of the Lingnan Xiong family.

――――――――――――――――――――――

After a while, a brocade box had been taken out of room B4. Handed over to the flower hall for inspection, it is indeed a full 150,000 taels of silver tickets, issued by Taiping Qianzhuang, and the seal is not fake. Lao Suo is not deceived.

At this time, everyone knew that sitting in the quiet room B 4 was a merchant among robbers, and a bandit among merchants, who would not give half a cent to grab the bid, but would only smash people with silver in blood, and the other party did have so much silver.

I just don't know about the robbers of the fourth quarters...... How many bids are still ready to grab.

What follows is the development of the situation. made everyone except the Ming family desperate, Xia Qifei, the big leader of Jiangnan Water Village, perfectly carried forward the style of a robber, using a silver ticket as a knife and a wonderful bidding price as a fist. Stubbornly fought a bloody way in the confrontation of the merchants. In the sound of officials singing on the stone steps, the brocade box kept being handed to the flower hall. People seemed to see countless extremely beautiful silver tickets flying in the air, and Xia Qifei was holding a big knife and shouting lewdly, "Who is richer than me?"

Two hours have passed, in addition to missing a small standard that is not too important, Xia Qifei actually won four bids in a row, which also includes the three bids that originally belonged to the Cui family's northern route, not only killed Xiong Bailing to sit on the ground, but also killed the Quanzhou Sun family's face was pale, and the rest of the merchants were even more frightened, thinking that they were not here to win the bid today, but to see the robbers killing the place.

It was only at this time that the merchants regretted a little and did not accept Fan Xian's initial proposal, if it was separated, there would be ten major items in the back, even if the Ming family was eyeing it, they would have the opportunity to eat some into their mouths.

I'd rather fight with the Ming family than with the robbers in the fourth room, this is the biggest feeling of Jiangnan businessmen today.

Fan Xian sat on the Taishi chair with a calm face, and talked to Xue Qing without a match, but in fact, he was jealous of Xia Qifei in his heart, thinking that this kind of cute game of smashing people with silver, why couldn't it be his turn to appear on the stage, but it was so good to kill you.

Huang Gonggong and Guo Zheng had already gotten rid of the shock of the previous moment, and looked at each other with a smile, thinking quite the same thing, you Fan Xian...... Where did all this money come from? I'm afraid that the Tobe Shangshu in Kyoto will not be clean.

The fifth bid began, which was originally a Xingbei glass product belonging to the Cui family.

The door of the fourth house was pushed open again, and another brown paper bag was handed out.

At this time, there were no merchants who were willing to play with the robber, so they were all quiet, hoping that the robber would be well fed sooner.

At this moment, the door of Room A, which had been unusually quiet, was pushed open, and the Ming family ...... For some reason, I made a move in advance!

......

......

"I don't want to win the bid, but I have to delay it, at least until today. Ming Qingda closed his eyes and said to his son beside him, "The other party has made a noise, we must be careful and leave enough time for ourselves to respond one night. 」

Ming Lanshi was silent, knowing that his father was also beginning to worry about the seemingly bottomless amount of silver in the fourth room, and was ready to raise it again at night.

Ming Qingda didn't open his eyes, but he was thinking in his heart about the bandit in the middle of the fourth room, why did he make himself so uneasy?